A man has been charged in connection with a fire at a block of flats in Civic Square, Tilbury, on 19 November.
Residents were evacuated from the building after a fire was started in a communal hallway.
Wesley Thomas, 31, of Civic Square, Tilbury, was charged with arson with intent to endanger life and two counts of assaulting an emergency worker.
He appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on 21 November and was remanded in custody to appear at Basildon Crown Court on 18 December.